Question About Modems for the Tech People of the Board

[BoSoxGal]

My house is pretty large - two stories and a full basement, where I do my treadmill, laundry, have my future TV room, etc.

1st floor is all the usual stuff including my home office, 2nd floor is bedrooms.

I'm finding that it's difficult to get a really good signal from my modem except on the floor where it's living. So when I had it on 1st floor, I often have slow connection while on the treadmill or watching my Kindle in bed. The other day I was home sick and took the modem upstairs so I could watch TV; just now after restarting my laptop in the kitchen following an Avast update, I had to take the laptop upstairs to connect to the internet. Now I'm back downstairs and it's working, but the signal is less strong than in my bedroom where the modem is currently plugged in.

Is there a way to boost a modem's signal strength so it's uniformly strong throughout the house? It's kind of a PITA to keep moving it from room to room. I'm not sure why it's happening - when I lived with my BF a few years ago, his house was also large but the signal was uniformly strong - maybe it's because his was a fairly new house built with sheet rock, and mine's 102 years old built with plaster walls? Dunno.

If not, is it possible to have modems on each floor, all connecting to the same line? I have a spare modem from my last internet provider - I found something online that seems to indicate it's possible to purge the IP info from that modem and set it up on the info from my current provider - but I couldn't find an answer as to whether I could have two modems connected . . . or three, as if this is the solution, I'll eventually buy another for the basement, too.

Help?

[Joe Guy]

Have you checked these things out?

[BoSoxGal]

No, and that looks like what I'd want.

But, have YOU used one? I don't want to shell out $50-$60 and find out it doesn't work.

Was hoping for solution suggestions from folks who have already dealt with this issue successfully.

[Joe Guy]

Yes they work. They're pretty simple. Some are probably simpler than others. Read the Amazon reviews.

This one is cheap but it is a good brand and has a nearly 5 star rating.

ETA: Oops! my link is to the router (which is cheap), not the extender, but the extender is a choice within the link.

[Gob]

we use one of these, it works fine.

[BoSoxGal]

Here's another tech question - I'm using just the modem that I bought from CenturyLink when I signed up for their DSL.

A lot of the stuff I found online talked about a router. Should I have a router connected to my modem, and my devices connected to that? Does that improve the connection of each device?

At present my devices - Kindle, iPhone, laptop - are all connecting wirelessly to the modem.

Where's Daisy at?

[Gob]

Modem and router are virtually synonymous.

[BoSoxGal]

Okey dokey - that helps.

I just brought my modem/router back downstairs, and having located an ethernet cable the other day, I've plugged my laptop into that - at least while I'm in the kitchen, this vastly improves the speed of my web browsing while I'm also watching TV on the kindle via wireless connection.

And I've ordered the Belkin range extender via Amazon - thanks guys!

[BoSoxGal]

Dang, don't I feel S-T-U-P-I-D.

I'm happily browsing all over the interwebs on my laptop over this ethernet cable, everything's super lightning fast while my Kindle Fire streams video with no lag whatsoever over the wireless connection.

Obviously it's ALWAYS better to be on the ethernet, if you can be.

Wish I'd figured this out a year ago!

[No Greater Fool]

Just a small point of clarification. Modems (modulator/demodulator) are devices that translate the signals that your phone/cable/satellite provider uses into ones your homes devices (computers/phones/readers) can use. Routers are used to distribute those signals either through ethernet cables or wifi so that more than one device can use the signal from the modem at the same time without plugging/unplugging things. In your case, it sounds like your provider put both of these devices in a single unit. ...and, yes, the hard wire will generally be faster than wireless although wireless router technology - both speed and range - has improved.

[Gob]

Aren't most modem/routers single units these days NGF?

[No Greater Fool]

Don't have any statistics of integrated vs separate units. My own experience with 3 different cable companies in 2 different states was that they provided only a modem with their internet service. Based on the number of routers 'on offer' at Amazon (dozens from at least 6 different suppliers) there is a substantial U.S. market for separate routers.

[Gob]

Oh, ok, I wouldn't have thought that, cheers!

[BoSoxGal]

The paperwork that came with mine just calls it a modem. I've got CenturyLink.

But, the modem has several ports - from 'DSL' to the phone jack, from 'phone' to a phone, and four ports labeled 'ethernet', which I assume are for multiple computers, or other devices such as printers?

The device from my last internet service through another provider looks similar, but is called a router. It also has a little antenna thingy, which I'm guessing is a built in wifi booster?

[No Greater Fool]

From your description, it sounds like you have an integrated modem/router such as Gob mentioned.

[oldr_n_wsr]

mine's 102 years old built with plaster walls

Probably metal mesh behind the plaster.
If so, you live in a Faraday cage of sorts.

[wesw]

maybe horsehair plaster over wooden slats. absolutely the most difficult stuff to cut without damaging it. can be done tho, or fixed if damaged while cutting. find an old fart with new tools to work on it.

[wesw]

if women don t find you handsome, they should at least find you handy!

we re all in this together

red green

[oldr_n_wsr]

if women don t find you handsome, they should at least find you handy!

we re all in this together

red green

The men in the white coats are coming for you. Don't worry they are here to help.

[oldr_n_wsr]

Speaking of old houses. I was helping a friend hang a new door as he punched the old one and split it a bit. I was looking at the old door and noticed it was filled with somthing. I took my saw and cut it in half and the inside it was filled with straw. I guess that was how they tried to make it a bit more sound proof. (the doro was pretty old. Of course the new doors are all hollow).